Fantasy Hockey Draft GuideTop 200 Rankings, Auction Values & More

As the 2014-2015 Fantasy Hockey season nears I wanted to create one article that would cover my draft strategy, player rankings, auction values and potential sleepers and busts. I don't pay as much attention to Fantasy Hockey compared to the three other sports but I do keep an eye on the league, especially when my Colorado Avalanche are playing well.

Before we get into things we should go over the rules of Fantasy Hockey. I'm basing this article on a standard league with rotisserie scoring. The ten standard categories in roto leagues are assists, goals, power play points, shots on goal, +/-, penalty minutes and average time on ice for Forwards and Defensemen; and wins, Goals Against Average and save percentage for Goalies.

With only three categories you may think Goalies don't matter, but you'd be wrong. A solid Goalie, or two, will give you an advantage like that of an ace pitcher in baseball. Last year there were only four Goalies that started at least 50 games who recorded a GAA of 2.30 or lower. In fact, only 20 Goalies started at least 50 games last season. Of those 20, only 12 of them posted a Goals Against Average of 2.45 or lower. That should prove just how hard it is to come across a good Goalie who plays a majority of his team's games.

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The two Goalie system has become more than a trend, it's the new way of coaching in the NHL. Last year only one netminder played in 65 games or more, ten years ago there were eight, five years ago there were ten. The new two Goalie system will force me to change my draft strategy to benefit from these changes. So how do we take advantage of this? We can't, all we can do is decide which route we want to take. You can spend a high draft pick on an everyday Goalie or you can wait a while and go after someone who posts a low GAA and high save percentage. Remember, in roto leagues you can punt wins in hopes to post a solid save percentage and GAA in fewer starts. The opposite route would be to take a few #1 Stoppers in an attempt to win all three Goalie categories. I'm staying away from the latter this year due to the disparity of games started among all goaltenders. If you're in a points league you'll have to grab an elite Goalie. I like Carey Price and Semyon Varlamov this year.

Now let's talk Defensemen. Defensemen can contribute in every category, with the exception of the three Goalie stats, but are often the key contributors to penalty minutes, +/- and average time on ice. A Defensemen that can score is another advantage you'll want this year. Of the 55 skaters that recorded at least 210 shots on goal in the 2013-2014 season, only Erik Karlsson, Dustin Byfuglien and Keith Yandle made the list. It's no wonder all three will be drafted as Top 40 players this year. 101 skaters scored at least 20 goals last year, Erik Karlsson and Dustin Byfuglien were the only Defensemen on that list as well.

A scoring defensemen is rare but they are out there and some can be had fairly cheap in your drafts. I'm specifically looking at Blue Liners with upside like Alex Pietrangelo, Torey Krug, Ryan McDonagh, Ryan Suter and Andrei Markov. You can even pick up someone late like John Carlson.

One more category I want to cover before we get into the Forwards is penalty minutes. I'm not opposed to using a roster spot on a PIM monster like Chris Neil. Neil has ranked in the Top 7 in PIM each of the past five seasons. If you can't grab him, I think you'd be safe taking Tom Sestito, Richard Clune and/or Zac Rinaldo in the later rounds. It's the equivalent of taking a Ray Allen or Jodie Meeks late in your Fantasy Basketball drafts for their three point shooting.

If you're concerned with the +/- category you can lean towards adding players on winning teams later on like Johnny Boychuk from Boston, Marc-Edouard Vlasic from San Jose and Hampus Lindholm from Anaheim, each player ranked in the Top 12 in plus/minus last year despite scoring 30 points or fewer for their respective teams. They aren't flashy but they do help in the long run.

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Now let's get into the most valuable players on your Fantasy teams, the Forwards. As you start your drafts you should go with Forwards early and often. I've already given you a few reasons why you should wait on Goalies and I've rattled off a few Defensemen you can pick up later on, so taking Forwards with your first five or six picks should be your prerogative.

I tend to lean towards Forwards that are point scorers above all else but once you get into the 5th and 6th rounds, things change. After the elite scorers are off the board you'll need to turn your attention to guys like Wayne Simmonds, David Backes and Scott Hartnell. Those three were the only skaters that tallied over 100 PIM and had at least 52 points last year. You can also go after Power Play aficionados like Ryan O'Reilly and Radim Vrbata. As the later rounds approach, and preferably after you have multiple Defensemen and Goalies on your roster, you can go after one or two category studs like Michael Ryder and Nathan Gerbe. Ryder recorded 166 shots on goal last season while Gerbe tallied 221.

Keep in mind that the above information is based more on my theory of drafting and the players mentioned aren't necessarily the ones I'm targeting this year. You should however be able to take my thoughts and information and couple it with the research you've done to create a new way of drafting your Fantasy Hockey teams. Now that we've got that covered, you can look over my Player Rankings with a better idea of what I had in mind when I put them together. You'll find some information about potential sleepers and busts to the left of my rankings as well as information about players that I ranked somewhat controversially.

My Rankings are based on my personal values for this season alone under the standard rotisserie league scoring system. Auction values are based on my personal value for players due to the reasons listed above.

#1 Sidney Crosby PIT Forward #1Crosby is the best talent in the game when healthy. I can run through the numbers but it'd be pointless, you're either a fan of him or you're not.

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#9 Tyler Seguin DAL Forward #9He wasn't in the right situation in Boston, but in his first year as a member of the Stars Seguin broke out in a big way. He notched 37 goals and added 47 assists in his age 22 season.

#18 Taylor Hall EDM Forward #18Coming off a career high 80 point campaign, Hall is a potential 40 goal scorer this year for Edmonton.

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#20 Nathan MacKinnon COL Forward #20My favorite young player in the game today, MacKinnon could be the next Sidney Crosby with his speed and instincts. He led all rookies with 63 points, 241 shots on goal, 39 assists and 24 goals last year. No other rookie had more than 185 shots on goal last season. Nathan will be 19 years old when the season starts.

#29 Jarome Iginla COL Forward #27Now in Colorado, Iginla could be a 30-goal scorer on the first line. He's one of the more balanced veteran Forwards in the game. He could bring some leadership to a young Colorado team that's looking to build on last season's record.

#48 Carey Price MON Goalie #5An elite Goalie, Price was one of four Netminders, with at least 55 starts, that posted a GAA of 2.32 or lower. Carey's six shutouts tied him with Jonathan Quick for the second most in the NHL last year. Only Tuukka Rask had more.

#52 Scott Hartnell CBJ Forward #40As you read earlier, Hartnell has always had the PIM advantage most Forwards don't. Now in Columbus, Scott will probably be the second leading scorer on the Blue Jackets just behind R. Johansen.

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#95 Daniel Sedin VAN Forward #63He's seen a decrease in his shooting percentage, goals per game, assists per game and points per game each of the last three years. Sedin is a tricky skater to rank this year considering he was once an elite Fantasy player.

#131 Dion Phaneuf TOR Defensemen #23There's a chance Phaneuf records over 200 shots on goal this year and an even better chance he racks up over 150 penalty minutes. Dion could be a sleeper this year.

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#155 "Vlad" Tarasenko STL Forward #100I love Tarasenko, he's one of the best young Russian Forwards in the game today. The Blues have slowly integrated him into their rotation over the past two years giving him just 13:25 TOI/GameI two years ago and 15:10 TOI/Game last season. I think this is the year he approaches the 20 minute mark and sees a monster jump in his numbers.

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#163 Valeri Nichushkin DAL Forward #105He's 19 years old and can fly. Valeri scored 14 times last year and racked up 20 helpers for the Stars with a +20 rating. Nichuskin is only going to get better so if you're in a dynasty league this may be the last year you can get him cheap.

#166 John Gibson ANA Goalie #30Gibson is the reason why Anaheim let Jonas Hiller go. He's only 21 years old but he was great in his three starts last year recording one shutout, a 1.33 GAA and a .954 save percentage. If he gets over 30 starts this season he'll be Fantasy gold.

#176 Brent Seabrook CHI Defensemen #34He's been a fairly consistent scorer among defensemen over the past few years having scored at least seven times in five of the last six years.

#185 Brian Elliot STL Goalie #37If Elliot wins the job in St. Louis this preseason I'd have no issue moving him into my Top 20 Goalies. As of right now I'd expect him to split time in net with Allen severely hurting his Fantasy value. I was an Elliot owner when he ranked as the #1 Fantasy Goalie just a few years ago, I'm a big fan of his abilities in net.

Good list overall but you're seriously under valuing goalies. I've been drafting in standard winner/prize/pro roto leagues for the past 5 years and have NEVER seen the first goalie taken as late as #30. The top fantasy leagues will usually see a 'run' on goalies in the 2nd/3rd round that will deplete the relevant qoalies before you know it. In fact, unless I'm drafting at #1 or #2, I'll take the best goalie (Rask) in this case over any forward. I can practically guarantee I'll finish in the top 3 of any standard roto league (Yahoo, ESPN, CBS) with 2 quality starting goalies.

Alex Wiesner

9/13/2014 01:03:10 pm

Yes, I understand where you're coming from but I wrote in the introduction how there are two ways to approach drafting Goalies. You can take two quality Goalies or you can wait and take a few later on. I ranked the Goalies lower on purpose, it was my way of showing readers that I was planning on waiting on them this year. The rankings are my personal value not how I think drafts will play out.

I was just in a Mock Draft with 11 other hockey writers and I got Varlamov in the 4th round. There was a run on Goalies in the 2nd/3rd rounds but I'm making it a point to avoid that. I'd rather grab 3 solid forwards before a Goalie. It's just my strategy this year. You can go a different route if you want.

My rankings are just my way of saying which players I think will have a good year and which ones won't. It's just my opinions - I mentioned that in the intro. It's hard to get everyone on the list that deserves it.